Will Somebody Please Teach me how to Speak Chinese???

I’m going to go on a bit of a rant today. I just got out of an increasingly irritating class in which I spend the vast majority of the time listening to a tape of a man reciting Chinese vowel and consonant sounds, which I am then supposed to repeat. The only reason my Chinese has progressed whatsoever since being here is on my own accord, attempting to converse with locals and other students, and asking the teachers questions. I’ve now been in class for two and a half weeks and for some reason the teachers are still convinced that I have an inability to understand simple one syllable sounds and their corresponding sounds. I explained to them that it’s very easy for me to look at a list of syllables such as “Bu, bo, bi, biu, biou” and distinguish the difference between each one, as well as be able to speak the tones clearly, but my problem is putting it all together to make a cohesive sentence. There have been no assignments on putting it all together, and the extent of the actual conversation we have in class consists of reading a prepared set of dialogue, usually consisting of words that I already knew before coming to China this time around. Perhaps they think we’re stupid, or perhaps straying from the original plan just puts fear in their hearts, but in any case if a change does not occur soon, I’m likely to pack my bags and head out into the world where I can learn some practical language skills.

The only class in which I find any value is the Chinese characters class, but I still only have one two hour block a week, and in the meantime every time the teacher teaches us a new word she writes it on the board in characters, usually scribbled quickly in bad handwriting. I’m doing my best to tell the teachers where I need improvement, but because of social traditions here they usually nod and smile and pretend to acknowledge my distress, but continue teaching in the way they originally planned.

I can’t help but place some of the blame on the international program at my school in the United States. I was thrilled to find out that they had started an exchange program with Liaocheng University, but the more I found out about the school the more I was turned off. The program here is just getting off its feet and they are used to catering to Korean students as opposed to English speaking students. When I tried to find out about other Chinese schools in other parts of China because I felt as though the education I got here would not be up to par, I was told that it would be very hard to transfer my credits from a school that Warren Wilson did not have a relationship with because there was no way of checking the validity of said school. Discouraged, I agreed to attend Liaocheng University in the hopes that it would all work out. Had I gone to a school in Shanghai, Beijing, or even Kunming, where many English speaking foreigners live, I believe my classes would have been far more beneficial.

So I guess at this point it’s just going to be up to me to make the most of my education here. I’m tempted to just start skipping my Chinese listening class and instead going out to find the plethora of locals that want to converse with me. This way I can learn to understand practical Mandarin, as well as work on my own grammar and pronunciation. As for my characters class, I will continue to badger the dean of the international school here to give me more in the hopes that eventually they will get the point, and we can move beyond the nods and the dumb smiles.

On a happier note, my roommates took me and a few friends out to a Korean restaurant last night. The food was rich, spicy, and absolutely delicious. My favorite was a bowl of rice, vegetables, a little bit of beef, and a raw egg that cooked on top of the steaming rice. While I love to eat real Chinese food (Americanized Chinese food is not the real thing), I’m considering absconding to Seoul if my classes don’t improve, just so I can eat all the wonderful food. After dinner my Chinese friend Nathan took us to Dong Chang Lake, which is nice during the day, but magical at night. The Chinese have a thing for neon lights, and all along the lake were multi-colored Hutongs, the pagoda style, castle like buildings that Westerners tend to associate with ancient Chinese kingdoms, all lit up in brilliant shades of green, orange, and red. Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me, a grave mistake, but I plan to return to take some pictures. In the meantime here’s a collection of photos of entrances to homes I took while wandering around the suburbs of Liaocheng.

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I had my first true East Asian meal in Seoul when I went there in high school. But they eat with sort of flat, metal chopsticks. I don’t know if you’ve used those before, but they were so ridiculously useless to me that I almost just gave up and ate with my hands.
Smiles and nods do sound incredibly irritating. Good luck with street school!

My friend told me last night that the characters on the door is a tradition that comes from an ancient emperor that was suffering from spirits that were invading his dreams, and so he had characters placed on the entrance to his palace warning to ward them off.

Yo! Alright so i’ve been pumping through blog after blog that I can get my hands on about Shanghai and China in general. I’m slated to hit up Shanghai University for alittle bing bang bong studies in early September. Unfortunately i haven’t found any blogs from students in Shanghai so I looked to other places in China and stumbled onto this one.
To the point, this blog is great. Gives me alittle insight to a student’s experiences in China instead of only house wives and english teachers. Your classes sound kinda rough man and it’s disappointing you’re not getting what you want out of the classes but such is life right, take what you can get. But keep it up man the insight is great. Also, how you fairing with the ladies my man? If they’re as half as easy to talk to and date as they were when i went to Japan it’ll be paradise!

Hey Bo, really glad you came across my blog. Students thinking about traveling abroad in China are my intended audience, so it’s good to hear it’s helping you out. Beware though, I’ve never been to Shanghai it’s worlds apart from Lioacheng. I expect you’ll have a lot of foreign freinds studying with you, while here I’m the only American and only one of two English speaking students. Shanghai is also one of the most modern and industrialized cities in the world, while there are still parts of Liaocheng that are similar to third world conditions. Liaocheng is also a very traditional Chinese city, and the dating game here has been less than amazing. Traditional Chinese girls tend to be extremely sexually repressed and wicked shy. They love foreigners, but my interactions with girls here has been more along the lines of them giggling at everything I say. Also, most traditional Chinese girls tend to expect marriage out of their first relationship…a little frightening in my opinion. Like I sad though, Shanghai might as well be another planet compared to Liaocheng, and you’re much more likely to run into some girls there who are a bit more liberal, a bit more mature. Hope this helps! If you know anyone else who is studying in China feel free to give them my URL, I could always use more traffic.

Sounds wild. My buddy went to harbin said the same kind of thing about the girls up there, way shy and want marriage after the first date (no thanks), must be rough. I’m going to try and hit up the smaller cities and rural areas, to try and get a feel for the overall picture of China. I’m thinking of hitting it up via motorcycle looks like i can get one fairly cheap..but hows the traffic out on the high ways, and cities like liaocheng? From what i’ve read Shanghai it’s damn near suicide, was kinda wondering if it’s a bit less crazy out in your area.

Chinese roads are really really dangerous, no matter where you are. It’s probably not as bad in the rural parts just because there aren’t as many people, but traffic laws are more like suggestions here. Plus, I’ve discovered that CHinese people ccouldn’t go in a straight line to save their life. If you do get a motorcycle, be really really careful, and always watch what’s going on in front of you. As for the highways, I can’t even imagine what riding a motorcycle would be like. I’m not you’re mother, but I would strongly reccomend just taking a bus or something.

Im looking for someone to help me speak Chinese?! Could you help me out please? I’m 16, and British but i really want to go to a Chinese university, i know i have a few more years ahead of me, but i need to learn and perfect my skills 🙂 When i was 15, i flew over to Hong kong on my own and stayed in Tai Po, Fung Yeung village for 5 weeks, it was really cool but i couldn’t understand a lot?